Schools

$158 Average Tax Hike Approved by Bernards School Board

No public comment as Board of Education adopts $94.2 million 2013-14 budget.

As in Somerset Hills the night before, the Bernards Board of Education on Thursday adopted a school budget for 2013-14 that hit the state cap of 2 percent on general fund tax levy increases, a percentage that was then reduced by savings achieved through refinancing of long-term debt.

The total school budget for next year is $94.2 million, up from $93.26 million for the current 2012-13 school year, according to school district figures.

Overall, the tax levy for next year will go up 1.54 percent, adding an additional $158 onto a township home with an average assessed value of $587,554, according to school figures presented by Rod McLaughlin, the school district's business administrator.

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An increase of about $1.5 million in the general fund tax levy, to $77,377,442, was reduced by put through in February, McLaughlin said.

The newly approved budget anticipates four more positions in special education, and also maintains all of the district's programs that in past years were at risk due to budget cuts.

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Those programs include full-day kindergarten, the nine-period day at and the teams at the said Schools Superintendent Nick Markarian.

With no public comment at all on the budget, Board Member William Koch noted that it was different than a few years earlier, when dozens of concerned parents pleaded with the board not to make cuts in such areas as special education, the number of periods at the high school, and the district's full-day kindergarten program.

Koch did say he would like to see some larger initiatives in school programs.

Board President Susan McGowan pointed out there were a number of smaller initiatives in schools — such as the addition of two college level courses at the high school next year, which had been discussed earlier at the meeting.

However, she said the district is lucky to be able to maintain all school programs into the next year following years of steep reductions and some budget defeats. School districts around the state, including Bernards Township, have since last year had the option of forgoing public votes on their budgets as long as increases are restricted to two percent.

Board member Michael Byrne abstained from voting on the budget.

Markarian said there are no major increases in the 2013-14 budget, although he did say that the district will have expenses ahead related to changes in state testing methods and other mandated changes

For example, he said next year is supposed to be the last time the N.J. ASK test is given in state schools. After that, he said that the new tests are to be taken online, a requirement that could cost the district up to "hundreds of thousands" of dollars in hardware investments. The school districts will not be reimbursed for expenses incurred in meeting the new testing requirements, Markarian said.


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